No Equality In I.q.

Research shows that women now score higher on IQ tests than men.

The author of the study, James Flynn, a New Zealand-based researcher known as an IQ testing expert, said that over the past century, women have lagged slightly behind men in IQ testing scores, at times by as much as five points. But now, Flynn said women have closed the gap and even inched ahead by up to a full point in this battle of the intelligent sexes.

Not many academics have a phenomenon named after them, and when it happens they're mostly hard scientists. Which makes James Flynn such an interesting exception to the rule, as even in the argumentative world of psychology, the "Flynn Effect" is recognized as an accepted fact. Given that intelligence testing is one of the most controversial areas in social science, the fact that Flynn managed to gain widespread acceptance for his conclusion is remarkable. This may have something to do with the fact that he came to the field as an outsider, as he is a political scientist, not a psychologist. But it also has a lot to do with his intellectual style, which is low-key, cautious and relentlessly empirical. He largely comes across as a sort of chartered accountant with a good grasp of statistical theory.

His newest book

Are We Getting Smarter? is partly an extended, updating footnote to magnum opus on the subject, What Is Intelligence? (published several years ago by Cambridge University Press)

His latest work is full of thought-provoking and sometimes disturbing issues. The chapter on IQ testing and the death penalty in the US, is absolutely frightening. The chapter regarding the cognitive decline in the aging process was very enlightening for me. However, his research which provided a nouvelle answer to the age-old and rather delicate question: who is smarter, men or women? has come down on the feminine side of that argument.

“Over the last 100 years, everyone in the developing world has been gaining about three IQ points, but women have been gaining faster,” Flynn collected data from "Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Estonia and Argentina on scores on a standard IQ test, called the Raven test. Each country tested at least 500 men and 500 women, most between the ages of 15 and 18."

He also stated that "in every country where women have an equal chance of modernity, women have caught men [in IQ testing]...In all of those samples, women are the equal of men, but more often [women] were scoring a half point or a point higher”

Flynn stated that this is "explained by changes in opportunity and education that have come about in the last century — for example, less reliance on rote memorization in education and an emphasis on improving logic and analytic skills. He further asserted that “as we enter the modern worlds, our minds change just as our automobiles have changed... Where women can have an equal chance to interface with the modern world, they equal on IQ and surpass on academic performance.”

One topic that Flynn doesn't properly address is whether it is absurd to think of measuring human intelligence with such a simplistic linear scale. He vaguely mentions Howard Gardner's theory of "multiple intelligences" only to dismiss it outright with a brusque comment that scores on traditional IQ tests are still what matter stating "the social realities of America are these, being at the 90th percentile for the kind of 'intelligences' that get professional credentials opens up a thousand doors; being at the 90th percentile for softball does not. Every parent knows this."

Personally and as a parent I tend to think there are many different types of intelligence and all have value.

This latest work will certainly not be the last word on this issue as deciding which is the smarter sex is an ever-controversial topic of conversation and scientific research, it is for that reason I thought bringing it here to EP might lead to a interesting conversation or two!!

any one who came to this story by way of youtube by jackbarnes... please be ware!!!! he is a well known *** hole and he goes out of his way to hate on women/feminist here on exp proj, and any one else who he doesn't lik.he made those video hoping to ruin the those women/feminst and men. jack feels powerless over his world, and he sees women as a threat to that delusional world he lives in. he has called feminist *****, *****,******* and has threatened them and their families and friends by way of shot gun,many of the feminists here are in contact with authorities. due to jackbarnes aka knightrunner he claims to have a wife and daughter but yet he spends all his free time on exp prog and avfm and youtube making videos about feminist he hates on.

I talked to someone online for a while...her sexually abusive stepdad was able to get out of prison by doing awfully on an IQ test...This was California...he deliberately did poorly enough to be declared functionally retarded....He may have acted like a toddler-most child sex abusers are REALLY immature, but he's not mentally retarded.

I actually find this to be hopeful news (to the extent that it is news). Environment can influence IQ, meaning that one's intellectual endowment is malleable, and that perhaps we aren't wasting our resources in attempts at public education, even if a lot of them are misdirected and thwarted by more immediate issues.

Whatever one thinks of public education, I think it's a reasonable enough statement that in the last half-century more value and expectation has been placed on the education of women, with the result that women have caught up (as stated in the above posting).

So far as achievement goes, I think part of the reason that females score better grades and the like has to do with expectations and effort. I find the topic interesting, given that as I child I was simultaneously labeled "talented and gifted" (apparently meaning an IQ over 130, though I don't recall what it was precisely) and diagnosed/medicated/put in special ed on an IEP (My rant on that circus could equal/surpass the one on parental alienation, so I will spare you.). The TAG meetings, from what I recall, were mostly boys' clubs. In high school, I went to an "advanced" math and science boarding school (where I found out that I wasn't fond of either and became the history department's darling).

Getting to my point, put simply, the females generally worked a lot harder than the males. I'd argue that raw intelligence was more highly valued in males while females were valued based on results, i.e. grades. I don't mean to state that the females weren't as smart, some were and some weren't, as was true for the males, but I think there was an acceptance of a slacker culture among males to a much greater extent than among females, to the extent that I'd say that many if not most of the males at the school could be categorized as such. As such, females dominated the awards ceremonies, for example, and I'd bet had higher GPAs for a given ACT score (For what it's worth, the less intelligent males tended to have awful GPAs and often fail out, while the intelligent often underachieved.).

I think the same is true to some extent or another in college. Females work harder and make more of their intellectual capability, quietly taking notes while the males either dominate class discussion or sleep in the back. Perhaps I'm projecting a bit of myself in that assumption.

As for education in the aggregate, I think we perhaps need to worry less about college enrollment/success and more about high school dropout rates, and rates of functional illiteracy. This exists in both genders, and condemns them to a life of low-skill/low-wage serfdom.

Far as a "smarter" gender, one IQ point doesn't mean much; it's what one does with the rest of them that matters.

I was in talented and gifted aka TAG ... I didn't know it had to do with IQ scores ... I did it through grade school but, during testing for middle school intentionally failed the tests because I resented the extra 'homework' which counted for nothing on my report card and because I couldn't be in the drama club because TAG met after school on Monday and Wednesday ... Guess I'm the lazy under achiever :(

Lol, I think it varies by state/locality. I know I had to do an IQ test. I was actually thrilled in 8th grade when funding was cut for the program, because the class was a joke, the teacher was insane, and I wanted the free spot to be an assistant for the computer lab; working on computers was more compelling to me at the time.

I can't tell you just how much I agree with your comment, solowing.... As a college student of mathematics, I've had exactly the same experience! The super-intelligent guys monopolize class discussions and talk so fast that no one can understand what they're saying (as if that's impressive). But when it comes to the actual testing, they skip steps in mathematical solutions (thus losing marks and increasing the likelihood of making errors), make spelling errors, write in shorthand (in the exam!) and most importantly.... they come unprepared. I can safely say that most boys in my class are overconfident. As a result, girls perform much better than boys... and Mathematics was supposed to be a 'guy' thing - lots of people still think so.

Good comment. I think young males are at a distinct disadvantage for one primary reason. Testosterone. It makes you stupid. My intelligence has steadily increased as my testosterone levels have decreased. Back in the day aggression juice was a good thing, now unless in a specific career feild like law enforcement or sports or soldiering or wall street, the juice has little value. All my facts are backed up by nothing but my rock solid gut feeling.

@copper testosterone still has some useful benefits ... The aggression of youth is a combination of influences ... I have wished we could travel to the future and see how humans evolve since I was little ... It would be interesting to see hormonal changes within in the sexes.

I think it is mostly a misplaced idea of 'coolness'. Like mumbling unintelligibly or monopolizing conversations and interrupting others is in no way cool. But the boys in my class honestly believe that quiet people (mostly girls) are unintelligent or 'cowed' down. Of course, none of this is true.After is brief display of fireworks, they perform badly in the tests.

Also the fact that they are unprepared. I'm sure you understand that only people who are lacking something feel the need to back their words with aggressive fireworks.

They are insensitive to the feelings of others. They don't seem to realize that other people might also have something to say. They selfishly believe that whatever they have to say is most important.

Competition/bravado? Yes, indeed. A misplaced idea of competition and bravado. Where do they get these misplaced ideas from? A number of places - TV - maybe or maybe not. You know, at home boys are usually encouraged to be demanding/aggressive/outgoing while girls are chided for the same characteristics and are encouraged to cultivate sensitivity, passivity, etc. That's where it all starts from.

Nope. But my mom is a staunch feminist and a lawyer who has helped many women in times of need. So, I do have a few inputs from home. In my own life, I have faced many situations that have forced me to think on these lines.

You see, Dente... we're all in college and the boys here have the maturity levels of... well... you know it. I may sound biased to you, but hey, that's my observation. There are only two kinds of boys in my class - aggressive 'pseudo-cool' types and 'pseudo-cool' wannabes. I'm kind of hoping it gets better with age.

You see how so many MRAs advocate institutionalized polygyny? One of their arguments is that polygyny will improve the human gene pool because only the best men will get to reproduce. Continuing this train of thought, I can safely conclude that those men who do advocate institutionalized polygyny will have nothing to gain from it - they will only lose the precious one wife/girlfriend they have. Yet they (the 'pseudo-cool' wannabes of real life!) continue to hack the very branch on which they are sitting. See the analogy?

Well patriarchy especially since the ages of institutionalized chivalry is dependant on 'pseudo's' (betas) enforcing the will of the 'cool' (alphas) even though often times it is to the detriment of the betas (as well as all women).

Ya'll and you high brow edumicanations. I'mma break it down for you. Testosterone is like a drug. Think of opiates. Women get like a vicodin a day or something and men get it like mainlined heroin. And like any drug it slowly erodes your mind and life all the while the addict thinks everything is going just fine. Truly it is not our faults, our bodies are doing this to us. As I age my testosterone decreases and I am starting to get my life back. I have almost completely stopped picking on dweebs, bullying betas, objectifying women, making an *** out of myself, wanting sex, driving like a psycho, poisoning neighbors pets, ************ in the elevator (while others are present), playing with loaded guns, stealing tampons for my gf instead of just buying them, writing anonymous hate poetry to my ex's, looking in the mirror for prolonged periods, watching 80's sit-coms, mooning the full moon for the irony, sending large fraudulent checks to charities after wasting there time pretending to be a benefactor, etc. Thus my life has improved markedly as well as the lives of those around me. Testisterone. Ruins. Lives.

I'd like to get a commonly agreed definition of 'chivalry.' A lot of mealy-mouthed guys threaten to withdraw it if us women will insist on having legal rights instead of leaving it up to individual good will

Imagine being treated just like one of the guys. There is your definition. Why should women get preferential treatment of any kind in this day and age? That said, I hold doors open for guys as much as women. being nice is still just being nice.

Yes, so do I. I consider it rude not to, but some men make a such huge deal out of it like they think it's worth it to a woman to swap having doors opened for her in exchange for giving up property and voting rights, equal pay for work of equal importance, equal prospects, and legal protection etc.

I think all the door opening, chair pulling, coat over puddle throwing, was sort of a compensation for not giving women an equal say in things. It was a way of saying, "even though I don't see you as my equal, I still respect and value you." Now to the modern woman it seems absurd, but back in da day it was a way of attempting to balance the scales. Now I said attempting, not achieving a balance. Though antiquated and unjust, it was a system that tried to create a equilibrium between the sexes through rigid behavioral patterns that were defined according to gender. Any system that denies someone the pursuit of happiness in the way the see best suited to achieve is repressive, however I am sure there were women that were happy with the way things were or it simply would not have persisted for as long as it did.

Fine you win. So what if a hundred studies come in and all of them somehow prove that women are better than men at doing this or that or whatever, now what? What will the new self realized modern woman with a genetic advantage over their male counterpart do with this information? This new found power and confidence? Any ideas?

"Fine you win. So what if a hundred studies come in and all of them somehow prove that women are better than men at doing this or that or whatever, now what? What will the new self realized modern woman with a genetic advantage over their male counterpart do with this information?"

The same thing the anti-feminists do with all their statistics that they throw out to try to show they are better than women, and women are bad people . . . NOTHING!

Oh I'm intending to tell every MRanti that this is a feminist victory and part of the gynospiracy to have women take over the world... Even though as I said genuinely intelligence comes in many forms and all are equally valuable. Most of us don't take this seriously but, rubbing it in the faces of those who do = fun.

Some people just have a bad couple of all of their lives. Regardless, putting the opposite sex down to make yourself feel better about your sex automatically renders you as in a deficit of intelligence no matter what you score on the IQ tests .

In addition there are very smart women, just like there are very smart men, and there are very stupid women, just like there are very stupid men. Just because a majority of a certain sex is more intelligent, that does not make that sex overall superior to the other. It just means that the people who are that sex who are very intelligent, are very intelligent, and the ones who aren't, aren't. I will always just see people as individuals and not better or worse than the opposite sex just because some people, or even more people, who are their sex are better or worse than the other sex.

You're going to get in BIG trouble if you carry on the way you do. You won't be laughing when the CIA and the FBI and America's Military Might all come a'hammering on your door, my girl. Internet or not, there are some people YOU SHOULD NOT MESS WITH!

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